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August 17,
2023
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Welcome to football season:
Dragons defeat Pepperell in scrimmage 10-0
“Our guys came
ready to play ”
Last Friday presented a
Dragons vs Dragons match
up in the preseason football
scrimmage as our boys trav
eled to Pepperell to get pre
season tune up in. The green
Dragons prevailed, holding
the red Dragons of Pepperell
scoreless over four quarters.
It was a typical hot and
muggy evening under the
Friday night lights, but the
PHS defense was nothing but
typical. The secondary se
cured two interceptions, turn
ing around potential scoring
drives for Pepperell. The
Pickens offense moved the
ball well between the 20s but
some miscues drawing penal
ties cost them a chance to
convert drives to touchdowns
on several occasions.
At halftime, Pickens led
3-0. A long touchdown pass
from sophomore Flayden
Jones to fellow sophomore
McCord Purdy wrapped up
the scoring with a 10-0 win.
Scrimmage games pro
vide an opportunity for
coaches to assess players’ re
actions in live play.
“Our guys came ready to
play, gave great effort, built
some confidence, and also re
vealed areas we can make
improvements,” said Coach
Myers.
That is about what you
want out of a scrimmage -
along with zero injuries. An
other good sign from the
scrimmage was the en
durance shown by the team.
On a hot and humid evening,
the effort in the 2nd half
matched the first on both
sides of the ball. Players were
flying around with energy
late into the game and if you
happened the watch the side
lines, the coaches were too.
It was good to see the enthu
siasm from both players and
coaches. It was good to see
live football. Welcome to
football season.
The Dragons will open
with Sonoravile at Pickens
High School this Friday at
7:30 p.m. Come out and
what our players, the cheer
team, and the band show
their talents.
Photos by Robin Dunn
Softball Nettes see strong openers, winning big
Nettes keep the runner from taking second base.
Charli Fendley playing tough defense for the Nettes.
The Pickens High School
Nettes are back in action.
They started their season
with a series of home games
at Dunn Field. On Tuesday,
August 8th the Nettes won
big over 5A Cartersville with
a score of 9-0 in five innings.
Pickens jumped out to the
lead in the bottom of the first
inning after Lexi Grizzle
doubled, scoring one run,
Charli Fendley tripled, scor
ing two runs, and a dropped
third strike scored one run.
Lexi Grizzle homered on a
towering shot to center field,
scoring two runs in the bot
tom of the second.
Cheyenne Coleman
earned the win from the cir
cle. The pitcher surrendered
one hit and zero runs over
five innings. Fendley and
Grizzle each collected two
hits and each drove in three
runs for Pickens.
On Wednesday, August
9th Pickens hosted North At
lanta for a double header at
Dunn Field. The pitching was
impressive as Pickens beat
6 A North Atlanta Warriors 2-
1. Both teams were strong in
the circle in the first game of
a double header, but Pickens
outlasted North Atlanta 2-1.
The Nettes got on the
board in the first inning after
Lexi Grizzle hit a solo home
run to left field. Grizzle was
fantastic from the circle and
earned the win for Pickens.
She gave up one hit and one
run over seven innings, strik
ing out eight and walking
two. Grizzle went l-for-2 at
the plate to lead Nettes in
hits.
In Game 2 of the night,
Pickens defeated North At
lanta 12-9. Pickens rallied for
the victory despite trailing 5-
0 in the second.
North Atlanta opened the
scoring in the top of the first
thanks to two singles. They
got on the board scoring one
run. North Atlanta added to
their early lead in the top of
the second inning scoring
two runs. The Nettes flipped
the game on its head in the
bottom of the third, scoring
six runs on nine hits to take a
6-5 lead. The biggest blow in
the inning was a single by
Hannah Parks that drove in
two runs. The inning also in
cluded a lengthy lightning
delay.
North Atlanta recaptured
the lead, 7-6, in the top of the
fourth scoring two. The
Nettes took the lead back in
the bottom of the fourth in
ning after Ainsley Jones
tripled, and the Nettes were
able to plate two more runs.
North Atlanta tied the game
at nine in the top of the sixth.
In the bottom of the sixth,
the Nettes broke up the tie
when Lexi Grizzle hit a solo
home run to center field.
Hannah Parks followed with
a double to extend the lead to
12-9.
Cheyenne Coleman
earned the win for PHS. The
reliever surrendered nine hits
and seven runs over seven in
nings, striking out six and
walking five.
Pickens accumulated 16
hits in the game. Ainsley
By Alex Korowotny
Racing Sports
Correspondent
This weekend, back racing
at the historic Indianapolis
Motor Speedway. The first
two years of the Indy Road
Course were both average
races that ended in embar
rassing fashion, but this year
was not like that. Did that
make the race good how
ever? Eh, not really.
The race started at 2:47
with Suarez on pole. After
the only caution for incident
with Haley getting into the
tire barriers with a little help
from Logano, we found out
who would be the 3 best cars
in this race: Suarez, Mc
Dowell, and Elliott. Mc
Dowell would take the lead
from Suarez on lap 6 and
would go on to win Stage 1,
but Suarez would stay right
behind him in 2nd and Elliott
would stay in 3rd until green
flag pit stops started. Suarez
would get back in front of
McDowell after pit stops and
the 2 of them would still
close together for position.
While this was going on,
Hamlin and Keselowski
stayed out to get stage points
and were running 1st and
2nd. Suarez, McDowell, and
Elliott caught both of them
on the final lap of Stage 2,
but they would not get
Jones, Charli Fendley, and
Hannah Parks each collected
three hits for Pickens. Parks
led Pickens with four RBIs.
The Nettes began region
action this week, starting off
with White County on Au
gust 15.
around Hamlin, meaning
that Hamlin would win
Stage 2. Due to battling Ke
selowski for 2nd, McDowell
and Elliott got by Suarez and
would take over 1st and 2nd
once Hamlin pitted from the
lead. Elliott stayed close to
McDowell for the lead for a
while until he got booted out
of the way by Suarez for
2nd. During the final set ol
green flag pit stops, Suarez
had a slow stop due to the air
gun hose getting caught
under the front tire, which
took him out of contention
for the win. McDowell came
out of the pits with a big lead
over Elliott, and despite the
help of lap traffic and Elliott
making a charge at it in the
final laps, McDowell held on
to win at Indianapolis.
As for the overall race, it
was pretty average. In terms
of racing up front, it was
pretty good. Not only was it
3 drivers battling for the lead
throughout the race, but they
were drivers that are just
below the playoff cutline to
make it into the playoffs 2
weeks from now. For the
majority of the race either
Suarez or McDowell would
lead and Elliott, Suarez, or
McDowell would stay close
behind them in 2nd. It was
fun to watch the kind of race
Continued on Page 3B
PHS Cheerleading celebrates
Senior Week
By Coach Prather
Senior week for Pickens Cheerleading is
in full swing. As a special thank you the sen
iors and families were gifted a photoshoot
with Elisha Roland Photography. Thank you,
Elisha for capturing these beautiful memo
ries.
To our girls, thank you for being a part of
this legacy and helping us grow into the pro
gram we are today. What started as a small
junior high team with no coach quickly
turned into several record-breaking, unforget
table seasons. No matter where life takes you,
you will accomplish amazing things. Never
forget where you came from and always re
member that you are beautiful, worthy and
strong.
To our parents: Thank you for your dedi
cation to their successes as athletes; without
you, we wouldn’t be where we are today. I’m
wishing you all the love and prayers as you
Continued on Page 8B
Racing Across America
Race Recap - 2023 Verizon 200
Sports
Fanatic
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
‘Baugh
Humbug!
For almost a month
now, sports fans expected
Michigan’s head football
coach Jim Harbaugh’s
suspension for the first
four football games of this
season. Suddenly, the
NCAA says basically that
the “negotiated” punish
ment for alleged multiple
recruiting violations is not
enough.
The NCAA Committee
on Infractions rejected the
deal which is well within
is realm of authority,
therefore this particular
saga could linger for an
other year or more. Cer
tainly, nothing here will be
settled until after the col
lege football season.
Humbug!
The NCAA should take
the deal. I see absolutely
no other way for the
“guilty” to actually re
ceive punishment and the
governing body retain any
credibility.
This game is not
winnable for the anti
quated, inconsistent and
virtually impotent NCAA.
Even if Harbaugh
agreed to a longer suspen
sion, after consecutive Big
Ten Championships, the
University of Michigan
awaits with a big, fat, $10
million plus a year con
tract extension to keep
him in Ann Arbor as soon
as this case settles.
The Wolverines’ coach
for the past eight years has
infinite other opportuni
ties should the NCAA at
tempt anything
heavy-handed. After four
teen seasons as a profes
sional quarterback and
nearly 20 as a head coach,
the man earned over $100
million during his com
bined careers.
At 59 years old, he
could simply retire.
He could also jump
right back into the NFL
head coaching ranks again
or the broadcast booth and
much more completely
untouched by the NCAA’s
ruling.
Moreover, the contin
ued incompetence and in
effective governance by
the NCAA makes the once
unthinkable seem increas
ingly possible and perhaps
even likely.
With all the conference
changes, shifting loyalty
and continued gaffes by
this organization, what
prevents the various ath
letic conference from dis
associating themselves
with the NCAA and creat
ing a different ruling body
particularly if so called
“super conferences”
emerge?
I believe that it will
eventually happen and
that’s no humbug.